Bayou at Bayou Golf Club

Bayou Golf Club sits in Texas City, a Gulf Coast industrial city southeast of Houston on Galveston Bay. Designed by Joe Finger and opened in the 1960s, the course reflects the architect's extensive work throughout Texas during that era. Finger, who trained under Ralph Plummer and later partnered with Ken Dye, built a reputation for creating playable yet strategic layouts suited to the flat coastal terrain of the upper Texas Gulf Coast.

The course occupies low-lying land characteristic of the region, where natural and man-made water features shape the routing and playing strategy. The bayou landscape provides definition on a property with minimal elevation change, and mature trees frame many holes. Finger's design emphasizes course management and accurate iron play rather than overwhelming length, a common trait in his work from this period.

Bayou Golf Club serves primarily as a daily-fee facility accessible to the Texas City and greater Houston golfing community. The course offers a straightforward test of golf without the elaborate conditioning or amenities found at private clubs, reflecting its role as a neighborhood course in a working-class Gulf Coast city. Its longevity speaks to the durability of Finger's routing and the ongoing demand for affordable public golf in the Houston metropolitan area.